The New Way Weed Dealers Are Finding Tourists? Instagram

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Cannabis via hashtag is here.

Jess McHugh

March 23, 2017

Cannabis dealers in the Himachal Pradesh province of India may be following in a long tradition of selling their strain, known as Himachali charas, but that doesn't mean they haven't found ways to innovate.

Dealers find potential buyers by searching hashtags related to some of the tourist attractions in the region. They then follow such users and send them direct messages, offering to sell quality cannabis via café drop-offs or through the government-run Speed Post, according to the same report.

Smoking cannabis often figures into the practice of certain followers of Hinduism. Maha Shivaratri is a yearly Hindu festival in honor of the God Shiva, and attendees often honor Shiva by fasting, taking ritual baths, and smoking “charas.”

The neighboring state of Uttarakhand is the only place in India where it is legal to grow cannabis plants, according to a 2015 report in the India Times.